The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-04-28
Housing and Feeding Poultry.

flofiata ARfiCIlttfist.
good poultry house will pay for it
self in short time, and withdrawing
and carbolic acid. if used freely. will
terminate the various insect pests So nu-
merous in many Florida poultry yards.
Thorough ventilation is necessary all the
year round, and especially through the
summer. But do not go to the other ex-
treme and overdo the matter. Many
build their poultry houses with sides of
stats or iaths, which do well enough in
warm weather, but when the cold winds
and rains of winter come, the poor fowls
have hard time shivering in their well
ventilated houses.
As said two weeks ago. | prefer
wheat to corn. Cracking it does not
render it any less heating. Wheat bran
is too expensive; it costs nearly as much
for one hundred pounds as whole wheat
and is not nearly so good. Wherever
possible poultry keepers should grow at
least part of their own feed. the most
profitable form would probably be some
variety of sorghum or millet, such as
kaffir corn, millionaire, etc.
Ii is not every one who has ''oak
bushes or woods of any kind in which
their chickens can range. Every one who
has room for a permanent poultry yard.
might plant out one or more mulberry
trees. they make a good shade in the
summer besides furnishing considerable
feed for the poultry. But it takes sew
eral years for these trees to grow to suf-
hcient size to he of any use, in the mean
while some shelter from the heat of the
sun is necessity. The quickest way to
get 1T is to drive down four large stakes
at the corner of a square piece of land
large enough to hold all the chickens
you have, leave the tops projecting from
no.
these nail stout poles ON two sides and
cover the top.with poles and palmetto,
leaves, wiregrass, pine needles or any
thing that will make a roof that will
keep the sun off.
On most soils in this State castor oil
beans grow rapidly with almost tropical
luxuriance, a few of these plants in the
chicken yard will very soon furnish all
the shade needed.
LII you feed meal or bran. stirred up
with water, then by all means provide.
something To- keep it out of the dirt.
Wide boards. V shaped trough of mar
row boards or shallow boxes will answer
the purpose.
1t is not advisable. however to give
full grown fowls wet food much of the
time. In cold weather a warm mess of
such feed in the morning is beneficial.
1t Is the nature of chickens to scratch
for their living. and whole grain scat
tered thinly over loose soil is one of the
best methods ot feeding them. \ very
successful poultry farmer. who kept
hundreds of hens, always fed whole
grain and mixed it with heaps of chatf
where they could not possibly get it ex-
cept by scratching for it.
small bone mill such as is men
toned by Farmer John. would be Just
the thing to crush bones and oyster
shells into proper condition for the
poultry to swallow. Such mill would
be very useful to every poultry keeper.
In regard ro varieties. | have no doubt
that Farmer John is correct
As | have not been troubled with
hawks / am trying the white Ieghorns
which are more ornamental
As to Light Brahmas, had enough OF
them in Indiana. About the only rec
concentration that they have Is large
size. They are very large and require
To be fed heavily teing very poor hand:
to forage for themselves. They are al
| WAYS wanting To set and Is very difficult
to break up, when that Is necessary.
w. e. STEELE.
Switzerland. Fla. Apri Il.